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We welcome your questions and
comments on Theological issues!
On Saturday May 9th 2009 the
Western Star a local publication at Corner Brook published an article on its
Religion Page titled: “Minister discuss how United Church could become
non-exclusive” Inclusivity is very important to First United Church Corner
brook. The congregation has worked hard on policy and procedures as well as
living the welcome. I am not sure if it is serendipitous, or mere irony that
the very next morning Sunday May 10th The Reverend Ian Wishart guest
preacher at First United would preach a sermon in which he would point out how
important words are to us and how in our society we us words that are unique to
the church. The title of Rev. Ian’s sermon is “LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED
THING, Based on the great commandment found in 1st John 4:7-16.
(see sermon attached)
It is not the intention of First United
Church to tell its people what to believe and live out one’s faith. However, we
do promote thoughtful and prayerful discerning of other views.
Please take the time to read the
Article by Rev. Vosper and Rev. Ian’s sermon. It may raise some questions for
you. Rev. Wishart make a number of references to Living Faith A Statement of
Christian Belief a recent publication of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. You
may also want to reference A Song of Faith A recent Statement of Faith published
by the United Church of Canada 2006. Please e-mail questions or comments to
this web-site.
Minister discusses how United
Church could become non-exclusive
By Brenda Suderman – The
Canadian Press
Winnipeg
– Like any Christian minister, Rev. Gretta Vosper is eager to throw open the
church doors and welcome inside anyone who is interested.
Unlike most, she thinks the name of God
scares people away.
“We create a deep moat around the church
because what we say and do inside the church has no meaning to those outside of
the church,” the lead minister of West Hill United Church in Scarborough, Ont.,
told about 50 ministers and church leaders.
“If the learning curve (of theological
language and metaphors) is not there, if we have access immediately, then we can
serve them.”
The controversial and unorthodox author
of “With or Without God: The Way We Live is More Important Than What We
Believe” (2008) was in Winnipeg recently at the invitation of Churchill Park
United Church and the United Church’s Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern
Ontario. She spoke to pastors and the general public about her views on how the
United Church could become a “non-exclusive church” accessible to people without
any theological or faith background as well as those who have an unorthodox and
intellectual approach to faith.
“The task I believe the church needs to
be about…that’s stretching us to understandings to move beyond a theistic view
of God, “ says Vosper, 50, the chairwoman and founder of the Canadian Centre for
Progressive Christianity, an organization which promotes the idea of faith
progressing by developing and building on past knowledge.
Uncomfortable with using the term “God”
because every person has a different perception and understanding of the word,
Vosper advocates language in the church that includes many interpretations of a
deity.
She defines theism as belief in a deity
who is separate, distinct and intervenes in the lives of humans.
“I’m saying that there are communities
that are non-theistic and non-exclusive and we need to create a space for them,”
she said, pointing out congregants in her church would fall into that category.
She described a non-theistic faith as
one that does not pray to an interventionist deity, does not discuss salvation
through Jesus Christ, and does not view the Bible as the authoritative word of
God.
Instead, Vosper said the Christian Bible
is a human document of myths and metaphors and parts of it “are not worthy of
being the divine word of God.”
But exactly what Vosper is calling for
dismisses years of doctrine, traditions, and ritual which have shaped the
Christian understanding of God, argued Jane Barter Moulaison, who presented a
counterpoint to Vosper’s presentation during a two-hour, back-and-forth
discussion, which included questions from the audience.
“I learned what is meant by the name God
through a narrative and a teaching of what is named doctrine,” said Moulaison, a
professor at the University of Winnipeg’s faculty of theology. “We need the
doctrines and the practices of the church in order to see God.”
Moulaison also challenged Vosper on her
idea of progressive Christianity, saying it is presumptuous to think that
Christians with an orthodox faith are not intelligent or open to other
perspectives.
“It’s not that we (progressive
Christians) are that much more intelligent, it’s that we’ve been withholding
what we do know” from people in the pews, replied Vosper, advocating that the
discussion of the most current biblical and theological research take place
within the church and not just among church leaders.
“Why would we want to lose being a
community that has a particular and peculiar language?” asked Rev. Michael
Wilson of Charleswood United. “We need language that is counter-cultural and
subversive because the Gospel is counter-cultural to our time.”
Another minister said that a theistic
God who is “over and above” is a unique characteristic of the church, and one
that provides hope to many, including the addicts who worship in her
congregation.
“(That means I) have something beyond
(me) that can give me hope beyond what I can envision,” said Rev. Lorraine
MacKenzie Shepherd of Augustine United Church of her view of God.
“We’re creating faith communities that
don’t need the other…they’re pulled toward the transcendent,” replied Vosper.
“They wouldn’t see it as something that
is separate and distinct and intervenes.”
Although Vosper’s viewpoints are
provocative and controversial, one retired minister welcomed the opportunity to
debate theological ideas.
“I’m delighted with experimenters and I
see you as an experimenter and it’s long overdue,” said Rev. Gordon Toombs.
Winnipeg Free Press
Sermon ©
Sunday, May 10, 2009
First United Church, Corner Brook, NL
By Ian S. Wishart
Title: LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING
Lessons: 1 John 4:7-16
I have a question to ask: have any of
you been in love? I am a widower. It is over twenty years since my Jean died.
She was the love of my life. Put up your hand if you have ever been in love!
This is not a bad question to ask on Mother’s Day, Christian Family Sunday. You
may indicate that you love your mother; or your father; or your kids. Let me
see those hands. Hands up if you have ever been in love! Now let’s leave out
love for parents or children. Let’s see the hands of those who have really been
in love! Now let’s see the hands of those who are still in love! After church
this means kisses all around. Don’t forget.
Our lesson this morning from the Letter
of John is a lesson about love, but it’s not the kind of love that makes you
kiss your significant other. It is God’s love, the love which is the very heart
of Christianity. How often it is noted in Scripture. Jesus was asked about the
greatest commandment, he answered:
‘You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandant. And a second is
like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Mat. 22 37ff)
And there is the wonderful verse in
John’s gospel:
This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than
this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:12f)
The great lesson of the New Testament is
that God loves us:
But God proves his love for
us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
God loves us, and God loves this world
in which we live:
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)
This is love, not that we
loved God but that he loved us. (1 John:4)
Where else can you find that concept?
Not just that we should love our neighbours, not just that we should love God,
but that God loves us. Where else will you find that concept? Where else will
you hear those words? Only in church; only by reading the Bible; only in
conversation among Christian people. That’s the only place in the world that
you will hear that God loves us: in Church, among Christian people.
I am interested in words. I am
concerned about words, what they mean and how they are used. And there are many
words you will hear only in church. That is where they are used: not in the
newspaper, not on the television, not on the soaps, not in Don Cherry’s
commentary, and in our day not in the schools. Come to church, bring your
friends to church, and hear the words, sing the words, pray the words. Sin and
forgiveness; faith and hope; baptism and communion; salvation and holiness;
pilgrimage and discipleship. And then there are many words which are in general
use, but have a special meaning in the context of the church: mission and
service; family and fellowship; worship and praise. Among them all is the word
“love”.
Twenty years ago the Presbyterian Church
approved a new statement of faith, and it is now one of our constitutional
documents, one of our subordinate standards. It is a little 30 page booklet,
called Living Faith. Here is the start of the chapter on
Love:
We bow before the mystery of
God’s love.
From it came our creation.
By it we are daily nurtured.
through it we find
salvation.
A consuming fire of purity,
God’s love
is yet warm and gentle
compassion.
We respond to the God who is
love
by loving in return. (i)
Among the things that differentiate the
Presbyterian Church from the United Church are our confessions of faith. In
1925 we retained the Westminster Confession of Faith. We still retain it, and
in retaining it we affirm that we are part of the historic Christian Church,
among the historic Protestant Churches, and confess the faith once delivered to
the saints. But the old Confession of Faith is not enough. We have to confess
the faith today, and this we have done, this we do in Living Faith.
It is sometimes said of the Presbyterian
Church that we are a bunch of old Scots who haven’t yet learned to wear
trousers. Let me note that the most vigorous part of the Presbyterian Church
today, the group that has the biggest congregations, and the most candidates for
the ministry are the Koreans. The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in
Canada is a Korean pastor, the Reverend Cheol Soon Park. On Wednesday I
received a phone call from Toronto to tell me that his secretary has just
delivered a new translation of Living Faith in Korean to our national
Church office, and that this will be presented for approval at the meeting of
our General Assemble in Hamilton, Ontario, in the first week in June. My
reaction over the telephone was to say “Hallelujah!” Hallelujah is another of
those words that has a special meaning within the church: it is the Easter
shout to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is risen.
That’s the modern church. Looking back
to our church history we are noting the 450th Anniversary of the
death of the great Reformed Church leader John Calvin. In one of the catechisms
he issued for the instruction of young people was this series of questions and
answers:
- What is the chief end of human life?
- To know God.
- What is the true and right knowledge
of God?
- When he is so known that due honour
is paid to him.
M.
What is the method of honouring him duly?
S.
To place our whole confidence in him.
M. How
shall we do so?
S. When we
know him to be Almighty and perfectly good.
M. Is this
enough?
S. Far
from it.
M. What
more then is needful?
S. That
each of us should set it down in our mind that God loves us. (ii)
We all need
to hear that, and remember it, and live by it: That each of us should set it
down in our mind that God loves us.
Way back in
the 1950’s there was a popular song about love:
Love
is a many splendored thing
It’s
the April rose
That
only grows in the early spring
Love
is nature’s way of giving
A
reason to be living
The
golden crown that makes a man a king. (iii)
The song is
out of date. It doesn’t say that love’s a crown that makes a woman a queen.
And it is feeble stuff beside the word of love in the New Testament.
Nevertheless, don’t forget: give the love of your life a kiss when you get
home.
When there
is a question as to whether a man is good, one does not ask what he believes, or
what he hopes, but what he loves. For the man who loves aright no doubt believes
and hopes aright; whereas the man who has not love believes in vain, even though
his belief is true; and hopes in vain, even though the objects of his hope are a
real part of true happiness. P. 135
Augustine: the Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love
Ed Henry Paolucci
Chicago, Henry Regnery, 1961
(i)
Living Faith 8.3.1
(ii) John Calvin, Catechism of the
Church of Geneva, 1536.
In Tracts and Treatises on the Doctrine and Worship of the Church, Vol.ll,
Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1958.
Questions 1,6,9,10,11.
(ii) 1955 Song in
movie of same name. Music Sammy Fain Lyrics Paul Francis Webster
©
Copyright, Ian S. Wishart, 2008.
Please make use of this document and circulate it. It may be copied for
private use. Quotations from it should be acknowledged.
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